The deadline for the recipe
Why every tenth physician may be criminally prosecuted.
The Russians believe that doctors should personally be held responsible for the quality of treatment. Meanwhile, defenders of the patients and guardians, health professionals have teamed up to bring the charges against the health workers from the criminal to the administrative sphere.
The people behind the whip
About 40% of Russians advocate that doctors and heads of medical institutions may be held personally liable for the quality of treatment. This is evidenced by the results of a survey of the all-Russia centre of studying of public opinion (VTSIOM) published on Tuesday, April 24. In addition, 60% of respondents believe that the authorities in the allocation of funding should take into account the number of complaints of patients to a medical facility.
According to the lawyer, member of the Council for cooperation with civil society institutions under the Chairman of the Federation Council Yevgeny Cartago, now health workers depending on the consequences of poor treatment can involve civil and criminal liability.
The Cartago reminded that patient enters into a contract more often from the clinic and not individuals, and therefore “compensate for damages should the organization”. To hold accountable for poor-quality services now and in the criminal code, in particular, spelled out the punishment for the intentional infliction of harm, the lawyer.
To loosen the grip
All-Russian public organization “League of defenders of patients” in the meantime, advocates that punishment on a number of articles of the criminal was transferred from the plane to the administrative. An appeal to the Federal authorities, it was prepared in cooperation with the Guild of protection of medical personnel, said the portal iz.ru President of the “League of defenders of patients” Alexander Saversky.
Due to the fact that the voltage in healthcare grows, the criminal liability of doctors creates more problems than it solved, please consider the transfer of criminal responsibility from careless forms of guilt of medical personnel from the criminal code of the Russian Federation in the Russian Federation Code of administrative offences.
Public men note that this initiative was already made by the Public Council for protection of patients ‘ rights at Roszdravnadzor in 2007. Moreover, this amendment was essentially designed to mitigate the punishment in respect of doctors, but rather to make them easier to prosecute “Any attempt to initiate a criminal case against the doctor runs into a wall of corporatism, the health system, experts, sometimes the state itself is on the side of the doctor and protect him.” Administrative responsibility is not so scary, and therefore would be a more effective tool in the fight against “negligent colleagues,” believed in the Council.
The authors of the appeal and the other fact. According to their calculations, based on current statistics on criminal cases against the health workers, “for 30 years about 10% of all physicians will be under criminal prosecution — that is, every tenth”. With the precarious position of specialists such as obstetricians, surgeons, emergency doctors, who daily fight for life of patients.
“Multiplicity of treatment approaches in medicine is not always possible to rely on standard, order, to talk about the only way to intervention,” the statement reads. It turns out the dilemma: criminal prosecution is often difficult to achieve, mistakes go unpunished, because this tragedy is happening more and more. But after the tragedies our patients and their families “do not seek to plant doctors”, emphasize in the League advocates for patients and the Guild defenders of the medical staff. And in order to remove the offending physician from working, stop it and administrative penalties.
The repression
Discussions about the appropriateness of criminal punishment for doctors has risen once again on the background of the scandal with the trial of a doctor-a hematologist by Elena Mishurina, sentenced to two years in prison for the death of a patient (later the sentence was cancelled — approx. iz.ru). In February, the health Ministry said about working on a bill that would raise the majority of medical errors from the sphere of criminal law.
Co-chair of the Guild for the protection of health workers, lawyer Asad Yusufov in an interview with the portal iz.ru recalled that Russia’s Investigative Committee, in turn, advocated the introduction of criminal liability for crimes related to the improper provision of medical care. And often it can be due to unforeseen circumstances.
We want to get it out of the rank of a criminal act, and I want to translate the concept of administrative offense. To the doctor, the health care provider is not involved to the criminal responsibility and administrative. For example, was fined. In this case, this kind of private responsibility.Asad Yusufov
Co-chair of the interregional Union of health workers “Action” Andrey Konoval believes that such measures will not benefit. “Most of the articles of the criminal code, which apply today in relation to doctors, not to sound like the articles devoted to medical crimes. There are no words “health worker” or “medical services,” he said in an interview with the portal iz.ru. The introduction of the special articles in the administrative code will not abolish the relevant articles in the criminal code:
In the proposal of the League of protection of patients and protection of the Guild of medics, I have not seen the amendments, which would have some reservations about the fact that these articles may not apply to medical workers due to the introduction of relevant administrative papers.
It would be wrong, because in some cases where malice or negligence has led to serious tragic consequences, there must be criminal responsibility, suggested Andrey Konoval.
— From our point of view, in the present circumstances the introduction of administrative articles will only lead to the emergence of another repressive arm, especially in relation to the ordinary health workers who are most vulnerable. As a rule, they are not very legally savvy, their salary is not enough for hiring professional attorneys who could defend them, — added the interlocutor. — And the system of justice we have is that I don’t believe that the average physician will find serious protection from biased accusations.